DiscoverSpeciesSharks and rays
Bigeye sand tiger
Odontaspis noronhai
- Usual depth75–4,000 m
- Water temperature21–29 °C
- Best monthsFebruary
- How commonRare
About this species
The bigeye sand tiger is an extremely rare species of mackerel shark in the family Odontaspididae, with a possible worldwide distribution. A large, bulky species reaching at least 3.6 m (12 ft) in length, the bigeye sand tiger has a long bulbous snout, large orange eyes without nictitating membranes, and a capacious mouth with the narrow teeth prominently exposed. It can be distinguished from the similar smalltooth sand tiger by its teeth, which have only one lateral cusplet on each side, and by its uniformly dark brown color.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Bigeye sand tiger”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 1 records
- February: 6 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 0 records
- May: 0 records
- June: 3 records
- July: 2 records
- August: 1 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 2 records
- November: 2 records
- December: 0 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 75–4,000 m · Deepest record: 4,000 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 21–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Bigeye sand tiger, Black sand tiger, Oceanic sand tiger, bigeye sand shark, bigeye sand tiger, Bigeye sand tiger, Bigeye sand tiger shark, Bigeye-sand-tiger-shark, black sand tiger, oceanic sand tiger
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Grossaugen-Sandtiger, Großaugen-Sandtigerhai
- Spanish
- solrayo ojigrande, Solrayo ojigrande, Solrayo-ojigrande, Tiburón arenero tigre de ojos grandes
- French
- requin noronhai, Requin noronhai, Requin-noronhai
- Simplified Chinese
- 大眼砂錐齒鯊
Other scientific names: Carcharias noronhai
Similar species
Bumpytail ragged-tooth sharkOdontaspis ferox
Blue nurse sharkCarcharias taurus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 27 open-data records from 1981 to 2000.
- Species data updated November 5, 2026.
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